Nekromantik 1988

Robert Schmadtke is a troubled man who works for a company that cleans up public spaces after traffic accidents and other fatal incidents; a job that quietly allows him to indulge in and explore his necrophilia fetishes, shared by his wife Betty. Their apartment is a stark, unsettling space, framed by centerfolds featuring models, photographs of infamous killers, and jars containing preserved human parts, all kept in formaldehyde as a cold, clinical reminder of their fixation.

One day, the street cleaning crew is summoned to remove a man found dead in a lake, and Robert becomes fascinated by the heavily decayed corpse. He secretly brings it home and presents it as a gift to Betty, who shares his dark curiosity. In a reckless, ritual-like moment, they detach a wooden chair leg, attach it to the corpse’s groin, and cap the act with a condom, turning the body into a makeshift prop for Betty to engage with. The act that follows is a chilling, consensual necrophilia that marks a turning point in their marriage and their psychological unraveling.

The next day, Robert is confronted at work by colleagues and ultimately fired for chronic tardiness and the lingering odor from his suit. Returning home, he informs Betty of his termination; she lashes out in anger and exits, taking the corpse with her. The loss triggers a spiraling breakdown in Robert: he destroys their pet cat, then bathes in its entrails, an unsettling image that hints at the depths of his corruption.

That night, after drinking whiskey and taking pills, Robert drifts into a dream where he is a partially decayed figure, playfully interacting with a decayed severed head beside a girl dressed in white. Awakening to darkness, he leaves the apartment to hire a gigolette and go to a cemetery, hoping the environment will heighten his arousal. He cannot perform, the gigolette mocks him, and in a fit of anger he strangles her and then has sex with her corpse. The following morning, an old gravedigger stumbles upon the scene; Robert seizes the man’s shovel and decapitates him before fleeing back to his apartment, where he ends his life by stabbing himself in the stomach while ejaculating.

In the aftermath, an unseen figure in high heels appears, shown digging up Robert’s grave, leaving a final, eerie note about the persistence of the impulse and the fragility of the boundaries between life and death. This conclusion lingers with a stark, unsettling atmosphere, inviting reflection on the disturbing blend of compulsion, loss, and the human gaze into the void.